Farsala Reborn
by Booksrgood4u
Summary: A fic about the rebuilding of Farsala and of the families separated by the Hrum. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1 Soraya

**Authors notes: **The story you're about to read is the work in progress of three authors, MandereLee, 1221Bookworm, and Booksrgood4u. We all took turns writing a paragraph or two after a discussion about all the things that might have happened after Forging the Sword. We hope that our readers have as much fun reading this as our writers had writing it!  
And, no, none of us own the Farsala Trilogy or any of the characters who you're about to read about.****

Chapter One

**Soraya**

Soraya squinted up at the figure coming down the ridge. She had been expecting a messenger for the last few days to bring news of her mother and Merdas. She waited for the news with mixed emotions, wondering if she would find her mother much changed. Soraya knew from experience how time spent as a slave could change a person's perspective. And what about Merdas? Would he remember her?

Abab squeezed her hand. He had insisted on coming with her to meet the messenger even though she had originally wanted to go alone. 'Moral Support,' he'd said. Soraya had no doubt that whatever came of her family's reunion, she would need all the moral support she could get. She gave Abab a grateful smile before turning back to watch the messenger. He was close enough now to make out his features, and Soraya recognized him instantly - Jiaan.

He dismounted his horse a few paces away from them. She remembered when he called her sister the day she left with the Suud. Soraya wondered briefly if the closeness they had was still there, was still accessible even after so many months apart.

It was good to see him, though. He was turning out to look more like her father - *their* father - more and more. For a minute, she didn't know what to say, how to ask the questions that haunted her since she'd heard of the news that the captured Farsalans were starting to return.

Jiaan must have seen her hesitation, and decided to get to the point, without the formalities. So much like a Commander. "Your mother decided to wait in the nearest town from the cliff. She said something about how appalling it would be for a deghass to be forced to cross the dessert," he added with a small smile.

Well, that sounded just like Sudaba.

"And Merdas?" she asked.

"He's with her," Jiaan said. "The town's not far. You can go today if you want."

She glanced at Abab, who shrugged. "You said you missed him."

"Alright," Soraya said. "I'll go as soon as the horse has rested."

They were so close. Her heart ached knowing just how soon she would be able to see them. (Leng)

Abab insisted on joining Soraya as she left the desert.

"Stay cool, and keep your tongue in your head," Maok reminded her with a hug as she left. Maok had decided to stay behind, partially because the Suud would have sent an escort with her, and nobody thought Sudaba would be happy to be surrounded by Suud. Soraya also thought that Maok wanted her to handle it on her own.

Jiaan had waited a few steps ahead, and now fell into step beside her. He smiled at her.

"Have you heard much news from Farsala?" he asked.

"Not recently, but everything I've heard has been good," she replied.

"It is good," Jiaan said enthusiastically. "I've yet to hear complaints about Kavi's council. They've been fair with disputes, and haven't set taxes to high."

"I've even heard that Kavi wants to send people in the desert to help the Suud - teach them to irrigate the desert so they can grow more food," Soraya said.

"Well, yes," Jiaan said, "He wants to, and, well, I'm supposed to ask you if you will talk to them about it. He wants to talk to you about it, and decide what would be best and stuff."

"It would be good repayment for all their support in the war." Soraya replied. "I'll see what I can do. I want to take care of Merdas, first."

"Of course." Jiaan said, taking his cue to pick up the pace.

Jiaan led them into town, a small collection of peasant houses on the outskirts of the fertile fields, before the soil turned into the dry, dusty rocks of the dessert. They stopped in front of small house, though it seemed to be the largest at the area.

Soraya came forward, heart thudding in her chest. She took a deep breath, and concentrated on her shilshadu, and on the shilshadu around her, just so she could calm herself down. And with one final breath, she knocked tentatively on the lopsided door of the house.

There was a commotion inside, a few voices seemed to argue for a minute. Then the clatter of furniture as someone rushed to the door, and opened it. For a minute, Soraya thought it was her mother, changed so drastically by one year's experience of slavery, but the wavy brown hair could not have been a result of washing chamber pots or chopping onions.

The woman looked beyond her and noticed Jiaan. She smiled and opened the door wide. "I guess you are here for you mother and brother," she said, scanning Soraya's straight black hair. Soraya had cut it again to shoulder-length.

Soraya stepped in through the door, and the small figure eating by the table was the first that captured her attention. Merdas looked up from the bread he seemed to be crumbling into little pieces, and grinned up in recognition.

Soraya ran to him, as he slid down from his chair. She scooped him up in her arms. He was heavier, taller, but a little skinnier. His face lost a little bit of its chubbiness, but everything that she remembered about him, the wide wondering eyes, the small nose, were all still there.

"Merdas, you still remember me?" she pulled away from him, and settled him down on the floor.

"Yes!" he said, and pulled on her short hair. His voice changed too. Less squeaky and high. She held him tightly again, milking all the affection robbed from her by one year's worth of separation.

"Djinn!" Merdas exclaimed suddenly, and Soraya turned to where he was pointing. Abab had shed his hood and his robe now that they were in the safe shadows of the house.

"Silly, that's not a djinn!" Soraya pinched Merdas's cheeks. "He's a Suud. I'll tell you all about them later. After you've told me all of your adventures."

"Adventures would not be the exact word I'd call them," a smooth voice came out from the other side of the room, and Soraya found her mother standing there.

"Look, Mama, its Raya!" Merdas squealed. He tugged on Soraya's hand, pulling her towards her mother. Soraya went forward willingly, glad for an excuse to approach her mother.

"Yes, Merdas, I see," Sudaba said coolly.

"Mother - Madam my Mother," Soraya corrected herself. She hesitated a moment before deciding to take the initiative herself and embrace her mother. Sudaba returned her embrace, and Soraya felt tears in her eyes. For the first time she could remember, her mother's affection felt sincere. Sudaba stepped back to look her over, though Soraya thought that it was just as much a moment to regain her own composure.

"What have you done to your hair?" Sudaba asked touching a strand of Soraya's short hair. Her tone was not as sharp as it once would have been, and some of Soraya's apprehension left her.

"I cut it." Soraya winced at the obviousness of the statement even as she said it, and she saw her mother's mouth quirk. "It was a disguise," Soraya said in a rush, wanting to gauge her mother's reaction a bit more before launching into the details of hiding as a servant and a slave, and disguising as a boy, and spying on deghans. "Anyway, I'm so glad to see you both," she hurried on, "I've been so worried about you."

"I'm glad to see you too, Raya," Merdas said, apparently having decided that no one was paying enough attention to him. "Mama said that you would be all right."

"Why don't you all sit down," the young woman who had opened the door asked. "Is there anything you would like?" she added to Soraya.

"No, thank you, I'm fine," Soraya replied as she slid down into the chair Merdas had abandoned.

"Who is your Suud friend?" Sudaba asked, gracefully settling herself in a chair. Soraya noticed she wore long sleeves to cover the Hrum tattoo. Or maybe it was just the weather.

Soraya bit her lip. She wasn't sure just how to introduce her mother anymore. Certainly she should not include the titles.

"Mother, this is Abab, he's one of the young men from the Suud tribe that helped hide me from the Hrum." She turned toward Abab, "This is my mother, Sudaba, and my brother Merdas."

"Much happy to meet you. Soraya talk much about you," Abab said, smiling jovially at them each in turn.

Merdas climbed into Soraya's lap, and snuggled there contentedly. "I thought he was a djinn. He looks like how Mama describes them."

"He is not a djinn, Merdas." Sudaba said. "He is a Suud; they live in the desert that borders Farsala." She turned her gaze back to Soraya. "You lived with the Suud?"

"Yes, Mother," Soraya responded. "I met them while I was staying at the hiding place Father arranged for me -"

"Jackal girl got herself up on cliff face and couldn't get down." Abab interrupted. Soraya felt the color rising in her cheeks. She didn't need that humiliating experience brought up right away.

"Anyway," she said quickly, "they offered me shelter after the battle at Sendar Wall" "It wasn't even that close to Sendar Wall" Jiaan muttered. Soraya ignored him. "When the army needed a good base, I helped in the negotiations with the Suud." (Bookworm)

Soraya watched her mother closely as she related the rest of the tale about her dealings with the Suud. She was careful not to mention any hints about her time as a servant and a slave; that would have to come later. By the small wrinkle beginning to form between Sudaba's brows, and the grim line her lips were forming, Soraya knew that even the Suud were enough to overwhelm her mother. Not that her mother was unchanged by the year's difficulties. Still, even if she had been quite rudely removed from her pedestal, it would not be easy for Sudaba to accept that the daughter she left behind had spent almost the whole year with "barbarians".

"I see," Sudaba whispered as Soraya finished off her story with how the talented Suud young men helped with creating swords that would not break against the Hrum watersteel. The reluctance in her voice made Soraya doubt the extent of her understanding, and yet there was a resigned undertone that made the young girl realized that, maybe, her mother stopped caring. She doubted that the past was something her mother wanted to dwell on.

"Why didn't you return?" asked Sudaba.

Soraya blinked. She had feared this question. Of course her mother would wonder why she needed to be fetched from the desserts even though the war was over.

"Why haven't you restored our household? Our home?" Sudaba pressed, but again there was that resignment in her tone.

'Because I don't know if it's my home anymore,' Soraya thought, but she knew it would break her mother's heart if she said that. Would she have to choose now? Now that Merdas and Sudaba were back, did she need to come back as well?

-o-

Thank you for reading Chapter 1, please leave a comment to let all of us know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2 Jiaan

Thanks for reading on to Chapter 2! MandereLee, 1221Bookworm, and Booksrgood4u are all happy you're reading it **  
**

**Chapter Two**

**Jiaan**

Jiaan was listening closely to Soraya's relating the events of the past year. Sometimes even he couldn't believe just how much had happened, how much they've changed, or been forced to change. He was looking out the window, watching as the dark blue of the sky overwhelmed the lighter parts in a slow invasion.

A pattering of feet distracted him, and he looked down to see Merdas approaching him. There was a small, yet delighted smile, on the boy's face, as if he has seen a new toy he did not quite know how to play with. He stopped just by Jiaan's feet, and raised his arms in a broad reaching manner, clearly indicating he wanted to be picked up.

Jiaan smiled and knelt down. He rubbed the boy's head, allowing himself just a few moments of tenderness towards one of his only family left; one who would not judge him by his mother's status, or by his past, or by his occupation.

"You're a good boy, Merdas," he said.

The boy giggled. "You look younger!" he exclaimed. Through the corner of his eyes, Jiaan saw Soraya turn around. It was clear to everyone in the room, perhaps excluding Abab, that Merdas had mistaken him for his father. _Their_ father.

Jiaan's first reaction was surprise. Merdas remembered what the Commander – their father – looked like? Merdas had been so little, and their father hadn't spent much time home before the war. His second thought was the huge responsibility that had just been placed on his shoulders. First, how was he to explain to Merdas that he would never see his father again? Who would he say he was? Could he tell Merdas he was his older brother? Sudaba might just murder him in his sleep for that.

He sat down again, pulling Merdas into his lap. "I'm not your father, Merdas," he said gently.

Merdas' bottom lip trembled. "You look like my Papa." Jiaan could see the tears welling in the corner of Merdas' eyes. "I miss Papa."

"I know you do," Jiaan said, pulling Merdas close. "I do to."

Merdas brightened, slightly. "You know my Papa?"

Jiaan looked to Sudaba, wondering if she had explained to Merdas that he wouldn't see his father again. Sudaba's face was closed, showing the pain of knowing that she would not see her husband again. It didn't reveal whether Merdas knew that fact. Jiaan decided that if he was going to claim Soraya as his sister, he was going to have to claim Merdas, too. His only fear was what Sudaba would say. But a Commander couldn't be afraid of his own family.

"I knew him very well," Jiaan replied. "I was one of his aides."

Merdas wrinkled his nose. "He had a lot of them."

"I know," Jiaan said wryly. With one last glance at Sudaba, Jiaan dived into dangerous territory. "We're related, you know. You and me and your Papa."

"We are? How?" Jiaan was glad to see the tears were gone.

"You and I are brothers." Jiaan heard Sudaba's sharp intake of breath.

"I don't remember a brother." Merdas sounded accusatory.

"I wasn't around too much when you were little." Jiaan said quickly. "Our father kept me busy."

"Mama never told me about a brother." Oh, no, Jiaan thought. What should he say now? He could see Sudaba biting her lip. Soraya was wide – eyed at his daring.

"Well -" Jiaan started, glancing at Soraya for help.

"He is your brother through your father." Sudaba said matter-of-factly. "He is not my son."

"I don't understand," Merdas said plaintively, looking between his mother and his sister.

"It isn't important, Merdas," Soraya went to kneel beside him and look him in the eyes. "Things are different than they were before. From now on we can be a family."

Jiaan was shocked at her bravery, shocked that she was claiming him as a brother. He didn't dare look over her shoulder at her mother. Personally, Jiaan thought it would be good for Merdas to have a role model other than his mother. And if that role model couldn't be their father, then Jiaan was willing to fill the gap as best he could– the best Sudaba would let him.

He stole a glance at Sudaba, expecting to see fury on her face, and finding exactly what he expected. But even as he watched, the fury melted away as Merdas came back to Jiaan and hugged his knees, smiling up at him and calling him his brother. Sudaba turned away passing a hand over her eyes.

"We will have to discuss this," she said, a slight sharpness to her tone. Jiaan held his breath and knew Soraya was doing the same, waiting for something worse to come.  
When nothing did, Abab, who had been hovering in a corner throughout the entire awkward conversation, took it upon himself to diffuse the tension. He slung an arm around Soraya's shoulders. Jiaan winced. It seemed Sudaba would have no end of surprises today. He almost felt sorry for her.

"Family much good, good." Abab grinned at the room at large. "Much good little boy have family."

"Yes, Abab," Soraya said, looking slightly embarrassed, "I think so, too. I think a family will be very good for Merdas."

The conversations were cut short, when the woman who lived in the house offered them dinner. After a travel to and from the dessert, Jiaan accepted. He sat down on the small table opposite from Sudaba. She refused to look at him.

He could hardly blame the woman; it was not like she was cruel or selfish. As a matter of fact, those were words he'd never ascribed to her even before the Hrum's invasion. It must have been hard, or at least confusing, to be raised with the notion that the only people worth something were deghans and deghasses. And yet in every direction she looked, she must have seen proofs that violated that idea; proofs like him. Because now that the nobles no longer held the position they used to, it would be like her whole life was meaningless.

At least Soraya had the Suud. She already had an identity of her own making. Jiaan hoped they could sort this whole thing out.

Abab settled down beside him, and when the bowl came, the younger boy began poking it with a spoon.

"It's good," Jiaan offered. It was peasant food, but what was the difference to a Suud?

When Soraya came to sit on his other side, he decided to bring up the topic of Kavi again. "Kavi's in Mazad trying to handle things like a good goatherd. What do you say about dropping by sometime later? He's still waiting on news, real ones, about the Suud. If he's going to help, I think you need to let him know the state of the dessert."

Soraya nodded. "I don't mind going tomorrow."

"Going where?" Sudaba asked.

"Mazad, mother. As a matter of fact, I think it'll be good for you to go there too. There's a representative there for the council who you can talk to, so we can figure out where... you can go from here."

Jiaan noticed that she didn't say we. If Sudaba noticed too, she didn't look any more distressed than she had been.

After a long silence, Sudaba looked up at her daughter. "What about marriage, Soraya?"

There were very few young nobles around now, Jiaan thought. Surely Sudaba knew that.

Jiaan heard Soraya sigh. He intercepted her quickly. "I think there are many things we need to discuss," he said, tilting his head ever so slightly toward Merdas, implying that the discussions were not necessary for Merdas to hear.

Sudaba pursed her lips, but made no reply.

Jiaan turned to Merdas. "So what have you been up to lately?"

Merdas launched into a story about his friends in Brasnia. From what Jiaan could gather from Merdas' tale, Sudaba had been sold to a well-off family who quickly discovered her skill at embroidery. Her work had earned her respect, and she was given a great deal of freedom within the household. So she had not had to endure a year of hard labor, but Jiaan thought that a year just below her old station might have been even harder. He wondered if she would be nicer to servants now.

After dinner, Sudaba announced that it was time for Merdas to go to bed. The women who owned the house was very kind and offered them space to sleep. She was a friend of a friend of one of the men from Jiaan's old army, and understood the hardship the year apart caused families. Jiaan promised her they would be leaving in the morning.

After Merdas was tucked into bed, Jiaan, Soraya and Sudaba went to sit out on the porch.

"What do you want to talk about?" Sudaba asked coldly. She obviously was not happy that Jiaan was present.

"The future." Jiaan said, then winced. That sounded cold and hard. He tried again. "A lot of things have changed."

"I know." Sudaba responded. "I noticed that you have now annexed yourself to our family," she added dryly.

"My father did that a long time ago," Jiaan responded. "I think he would want me to be a part of this family, now, too."

Sudaba's lips thinned. "You are very presumptuous."

Jiaan sighed. "I want to be there for Merdas. He won't get to know his father. I can be a support for you, too." Jiaan added tentatively. "I have some money laid aside, and it will help set you up on your feet."

"What about you, Soraya?" Sudaba turned to her daughter. Jiaan winced. "What are your plans for the future?"

"Well, Mother," Soraya started, "I went back to our home. It's horribly damaged, and it would take a great deal of money to repair it. We can't live there."

"What about marriage?"

The color rose in Soraya's cheeks. "I don't think that's the most important thing to worry about right now. We need to get settled again. Besides, there's almost no one my age left. We'll see what happens in a year or two."

Sudaba's eyes narrowed at Soraya's answer. Jiaan wondered if she suspected Soraya of being in love. "Marriage is important. A _good_ marriage."

"Yes, Mother."

"We should all get some sleep, too." Jiaan interrupted. "We can start for Mazad in the morning."

They left the next morning, and Jiaan was pleased that Sudaba did not protest his conversations with Merdas. Abab traveled with them, and though Sudaba often winced at his bad Faran, she did not send him away. Jiaan thought that her sharp edges had been softened, and she was less domineering of her environment. Soraya continued to avoid mentioning her time as a Hrum slave, Jiaan noticed, focusing more on her time with the Suud. Sudaba seemed interested in learning about the new government, though she did not share her opinion of it. It was almost a pleasant journey.

-o-


	3. Chapter 3 Kavi

Authors notes: Once again, this fic was written jointly by MandereLee, 1221Bookworm, and Booksrgood4u. We would all appreciate some feedback, so please leave a comment to let us know what you think!

**Chapter Three**

**Kavi**

Kavi looked up from his papers to see Tebin's housekeeper leading in some visitors. He grinned when he recognized Jiaan and Soraya.

"I knew you two couldn't stay away," he said, offering them a welcoming grin. This surprised him. More than a year ago, he would never treat nobles like that who were coming into his house. Things really have changed; if anything, they were all much warmer to each other now. Soraya had even knocked. "All the good action happens here," he added just for good measure.

Jiaan snorted at that, but he too gave a warm smile. "I doubt it. The 'action' here probably isn't any more intense than a tavern brawl. Now, the Kadeshi border on the other hand, that was where the real things were happening. You would have fainted had you been on the line."

Soraya laughed. "Please. Neither of you would last five minutes during Suud tracking."

Kavi gave a merry chuckle, then realized belatedly that he was the only one doing so. He looked between Jiaan, who had an uneasy undertone to his expression, and Soraya, who looked like one who had been caught at a prank. Kavi knew he was missing something, and only understood when his gaze went past Jiaan to where a beautiful woman was standing. She was a deghass, definitely. Or had been.

Soraya cleared her throat. "Mother, this is Kavi. Kavi, this is my mother." She stood there awkwardly, gesturing between the two of them. The woman stepped up from behind Jiaan, eyes roaming Tebin's humble house.

"Why have we come to a peasant's home? I thought we were going to talk with someone from the council," she replied curtly. If Kavi was uncertain before, he definitely knew now that this woman was Soraya's mother. Now he understood just where Soraya had learned her haughtiness from.

"You forgot me." A small boy tugged on Soraya's sleeve and pouted.

"I'm sorry," she said, somewhat stiffly. "Kavi, this is my brother Merdas. Merdas, this is Kavi."

"Did you work with Sorahb, too?" Merdas asked.

"Why, yes, I did." Kavi said with a grin, "Very closely," he added, watching Soraya's mother's face.

"Kavi is the council headman," Jiaan said. "Herdsman." Kavi muttered. "He can tell you what's been going on since the Hrum left." He continued, with a frown at Kavi's interruption.

"I'm sure all that business can wait." Kavi said jovially. "Traveling is hard work, and I'm sure the lad's hungry."

"I'm starving."

"I know just the way to fix that," Kavi said leading them to the kitchen. He wondered what Jiaan and Soraya wanted him to do with Sudaba. Surely they could fill her in on events just as easily as he could. Or was she looking for authoritative evidence that she was not going to be handed her old position back?

Soraya pulled him aside under the cover of helping him with the plates. "I'm sorry about Mother," she said sadly. "She doesn't realize just how much has changed."

"I'm used to it." Kavi replied sourly. "Some foolhardy youths are trying to convince me to re-instate the child gahn. I can be 'regent' they say." Resentment colored his words. "If I don't get them to stop soon, they're going to drag the poor child in to cry at me or something."

"That's horrid." Soraya said. Kavi smiled at the change in her. Not long ago she would have said that that was right and proper. "And the child is just a puppet of the others. He's not much older than Merdas."

"Well, that's tomorrow's problem." Kavi didn't even want to think about it. "What's up with your mother?"

"Sorry to make her your problem, but she thinks she can just go back to the mansion – which she destroyed by pouring boiling oil on the Hrum" Kavi snorted at the stupidity. "And take up our old life. She needs to know that that isn't possible. Maybe you know someone who could give her a job?" Soraya finished hopefully.

A job. For a deghass. What did he look like to Soraya, a miracle worker? Kavi snorted and straightened up the pile of papers he had decided to finish up before calling it a day. Jiaan, Soraya, and Sudaba had left a few hours earlier to find an inn. Kavi supposed that it was too much to ask for a deghass to stay at a peasant's house. Just as well, Kavi didn't really want her around.

The last few weeks had been a real test of his patience as he dealt with the returning deghasses and their misguided ideas about the future of Farsala. He tilted his chair back and placed his feet on the table. He tried to push away the old prejudices and think about what Soraya's mother might have endured during her time as a slave. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a stretch, after all. A year in the empire had to have taught the woman something useful. He'd heard that deghasses were supposed to be good at sewing. Embroidery, he supposed they'd call it, but if she could embroider, she ought to be able to sew. Perhaps a seamstress would take her, though without the deghasses ordering their fine clothes, he didn't know of a seamstress who was hiring. The best she could hope for was probably a laundry where she might do some mending. A laundry like Nadi's. Kavi winced. Not Nadi. She didn't deserve it. But then, last time he had seen her, several of her workers had left to join Jiaan's joke of an army, and one had move to another city. Nadi needed the help. Sudaba needed a job. Kavi took a piece of paper and inked his pen. Soraya owed him for this. Big time.

Kavi was unsurprised to see Jiaan when he came to visit him the next morning. "You can tell Soraya that I found a job for her mother, but she had better be ready to pay for it. I'm really sticking my neck out." He said, before Jiaan could open his mouth.

"I'm not here about a job for Sudaba, though I will definitely pass the message on to Soraya," he said, sitting down across from Kavi. "What is it, by the way?" he asked, curiosity written across his face.

"It's with Nadi. She could use the help, and I thought that she could use her embroidery skills for mending. It's the best I could come up with." Kavi sighed at the thought of saddling Nadi with such a haughty, probably difficult worker.

Jiaan's face brightened. "That would work. Nadi is good to her workers, and she has little ones for Merdas to play with."

"Aye, Nadi'll be good to her, but I'm tellin' her up front that she's under no obligation to keep Sudaba on. I'm just making a connection. It's up to her to make it work." Kavi hoped Jiaan understood that this was not a free pass for Sudaba. He was only helping her because she was related to Jiaan and Soraya, and perhaps to give the lad a chance to make the best out of his new circumstances.

Jiaan laughed. "I think it's a good idea to put her to work. Too bad you can't do that with your other Deghass friends. Work would be good for them, too, but you don't have time to go finding each of them a place. Which brings me to why I came here."

_Oh, no_ Kavi thought. _Another someone who wants something of me._

"I've been thinking that Farsala needs an army …"

"Are you crazy?" Kavi interrupted. "Most of the men fought with you to prevent having to be part of the Hrum's draft! If you go instating one, your trained army might just start a civil war, which, I might remind you, we would have no way of defending ourselves against, and would probably be having to call the Hrum in to put it down, and then where would all the sacrifice of the last year have gone to?" Kavi knew the last bit was harsh, but he didn't care. His folk had suffered. He wasn't going to ask them to do it again.

Jiaan's face hardened at the thoughts of the sacrifice of the last year. "I know what was sacrificed, Kavi. More than you know." Kavi saw sadness in Jiaan's eyes as he continued. "But that's why we need an army, Kavi. The Hrum are strong now, but where will they be in a century or two? When another army, stronger than theirs, begins conquering countries? If we're attacked, we can count on Hrum support now, but what if the Hrum Empire has fallen? Farsala would be a soft target, if, in a century to two, we have forgotten how to fight. Have become lazy, relying on Hrum swords to protect us. Nobody thought the Deghans could be defeated, but they were. The day will come when the same will happen to the Hrum. That's why we need an army."

Kavi sighed. Put that way, and he knew Jiaan had a good point. Yet the drafting of his people weighed heavily in his heart. Their peace was still in such a fragile state, that even he had to tiptoe around the council leaders during their conversations in fear of offending them. People thought all he had to do was whack a few hands and incite promises for good behaviour, but really, one wrong move could mean the end of everything they've worked for. Not everyone had the same ideals for the new, reborn Farsala. The meetings could last for hours on end with just two or three leaders arguing over the same points.

"Kavi," Jiaan pressed. "Some of them might even want to."

"For honour, you mean?" Kavi asked, and he rounded the table to pack up the papers he was sorting.

"For peace!" Jiaan said, and Kavi looked up to see he was beginning to get irritated. Well, he was welcome to join that club; Kavi wasn't too pleased with this conversation either. Form an army for peace? Well, that was convoluted. "To defend and continue defending our right to rule this kingdom. We can't always rely on the Hrum. They're honest folks, yes, I'm not denying that, but that doesn't mean we should rest on our behinds and give them full control over our military."

Kavi rolled his eyes. "We're not giving them control over anything."

"Look," Jiaan sighed. "I'm not here to force the idea down your throat. All I'm asking is for the next meeting, could you ask what the leaders think of it? Then maybe we'll know just what position Farsala is in about the army. I don't entirely think that they're opposed to it."

Might as well have asked if he could hang Duckie. Seriously, some folks thought all he did was whack hands in those sessions.

"If they don't like it, I'm pointing my finger straight at you," Kavi said.

Jiaan shrugged. "Thanks. All I need is for you to try. And I'll go tell Soraya about her mother. I'm sure she'd appreciate what you found for her mother. I don't think she likes the idea of having her mother tag around with her in the dessert anyway."

There was a short awkward pause, before Jiaan nodded his goodbye and went out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kavi's less than congenial mood continued into the next morning, when he said his goodbyes to Tebin and started on his way back to Setesafon. It was only worsened by the discovery that Soraya, Abab**, **Jiaan, Merdas and the Lady Sudaba were leaving at the same time, and Soraya's brilliant suggestion that they travel together was just the cherry on top of it all. He didn't want to speak to any of them. All they'd want to do was lobby him for this or that, as if this wretched, thankless job didn't have enough for him to do. As soon as he got to Stesafon, he would have to go directly to Nadi, to make his groveling apologies for saddling her with that…woman. And then, as soon as he was done with that, he would go to the council where and promptly be stoned for bringing up the thought of an army. And then, provided he survived that, he would have to deal with all the crises that had popped up in the time he'd been in Mazad.

"Council Headman, they said," he muttered under his breath to Duckie, who was just about the only one on this trip he was still on speaking terms with. "It's a great honor, they said." He snorted. "If this is what honor feels like, it's a wonder those deghans survived as long as they did."

Kavi plodded along next to Duckie in brooding silence, stopping when he felt a tug on his sleeve and turning to face his assailant – for surely it was someone wanting to accost him with yet another brilliant idea – only to find himself looking down into the face of the Lady Soraya's younger brother. Excellent. The last thing he needed today was a deghan brat following him about. He sighed.

"What is it, lad," he asked, resigning the rest of the day to misery. Merdas peered up at him.  
"Raya said you worked for Sorahb, too," he said. Kavi nodded, and dredged up an encouraging smile. "She said that whenever I meet someone who worked for Sorahb, I should thank them, because they helped me and Mama come home." Kavi opened his mouth to respond, but Merdas wasn't finished yet. "She said that you worked extra hard, and you kept working, even after the war was over."

"She said that, did she?" Kavi asked, arching his eyebrows and glancing in Soraya's direction. Merdas nodded, and grinned up at him. "Thank you," he said and stood on his toes to give Kavi a brief hug before scampering back to his sister. Kavi found himself grinning. The last of his foul mood evaporated, and he was reminded why he had agreed to put up with this demanding job in the first place. It was for Farsala, for the future of Farsala, the future that surely rested in the hands of her children – deghan and peasant alike. Kavi started down the road again, and began to whistle. Maybe this wretched, thankless job was worth it, after all.

Thanks for reading,  
Booksrgoo4u, 1221bookworm, and MandereLee


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